


Missing Insomnia Cookies

by Rosemarycat5



Category: Original Work
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Female Friendship, Gen, Insomnia Cookies, Poker, Road Trips, background F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25796887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosemarycat5/pseuds/Rosemarycat5
Summary: An investigative reporter, Shannon, and the runner of an illegal poker game, Alistor, band together to find their missing friend, insomnia cookies delivery person Libby.
Relationships: Libby Carlson & literally everybody, Original Female Character & Original Female Character, Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Shannon & Alistor Vallencourt, Villain who has a mutual friend with the hero & hero & mutual friend who’s has been kidnapped
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3
Collections: Original Works Opportunity 2020





	Missing Insomnia Cookies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ilthit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilthit/gifts).



Shannon:

It had been five days, and Shannon was freaking the hell out. It had been five days since the insomnia cookies had stopped coming. Five days since Libby had last been seen alive.

She stared into her cookieless pantry, and tried to ignore the sinking suspicion that something was wrong.

Alistor:

It was late into the night when Alistor bid the last of her players goodbye and organized the last of the chips. As she did this, her mind couldn’t help but wander to the energetic delivery girl who she hadn’t seen in five days.

When she arrived home at 3 am with the familiar craving for cookies, she began to wonder if something was wrong.

Libby:

_It was so quiet there. Nothing like the noise of the city she so often found to be a comfort. There, it was silent. The only sound came from the rustle of the forest’s dead leaves falling into the unrelenting wind._

Shannon:

Something had happened to Libby. Shannon felt sure of that. While being a journalist didn’t generally make her feel qualified to do more than recommend good coffee shops, it had given her enough of an intuition to know where there was a story. It taught her to see the little cracks in things.

Cracks. Like how Libby had not taken any surprise days off in the eight months she had been working as an insomnia cookies delivery person. If she took a day off, she texted her regular customers, sometimes even showing up the day after with extra cookies and stories to tell about whatever adventure she had gone on. Be it hiking up a mountain with a stranger she met at Starbucks or simply taking a day to catch up on sleep and whatever podcast she was listening to, there was always a story for her to tell.

Libby was not just a friendly delivery person, she was a genuine friend. And she had not been heard from in days.

Shannon made up her mind. She shot off an email to her boss at the Times telling him that she would be “working on a story” and would be scarce for the next week or so.

She closed her laptop (which was already overheating) with a determined look. She was going to find Libby. She knew the first person she would ask: another of Libby’s regular customers and the [alleged] renowned runner of an illegal poker game: Alistor Vallencourt.

Alistor:

There was a knock at Alistor’s apartment door. She opened her eyes at the first sound. Her address was not public information. She glanced over at the security feed she had hooked up to see the face of a woman who she did not recognize but seemed familiar. Glancing over at Tania, her girlfriend, who had not been disturbed by the sound, she got up, being careful not to wake her. Even though she did not give out her address, it was in all likelihood someone from her game, and it was not a good practice to keep them waiting long. She quickly pulled on her clothes; she would not deign to be seen by a player or coworker in anything but her business attire.

She opened the door wearing a black, pressed suit and crimson tie. Not a hair was out of place despite having woken up moments before. This was in complete contrast to the stranger standing before her, who looked about as frazzled as one might expect at 4:30 in the morning.

“How may I help you?”

The woman looked startled for a moment before righting herself. “You are Alistor Vallencourt?”

Alistor narrowed her eyes. “I do not believe you introduced yourself. That is not a good practice: showing up at one’s doorstep in the night, responding to a question with more questions.”

There was a beat of silence. “Yes, I am Alistor Vallencourt. How may I be of service?” Her tone was cold and the words slid forward as if on black ice.

The woman stood up straighter. With confidence, she said, “I know a lot about you, Alistor Vallencourt. I know about your illegal poker game and those you cater to in it.”

So she was not from the game itself, but an outside source. Alistor tried to quickly sort through the options of who the woman may be based on what information she revealed as she spoke.

“... I can and will reveal what I know to the police if you do not cooperate. Information not already revealed. Like this address for example. My name is Shannon, by the way.”

Not police then. This limited the options. Suddenly it dawned on her who this woman was.

She smiled, “We wouldn’t want that, would we. Now, pray tell, how may I be of service to the great Anon?”

Shannon took a step back, switched immediately from being in an offensive position to a defensive one. “How did you--”

Alistor cut her off. “It is certainly interesting to learn the identity of the great Anon. The writing in your exposee of my old poker room was truly well written. A few typos here and there, but those are hard to avoid even for the best of us.” The power dynamic successfully shifted in her favor, Alistor added, “It would be a shame for others to learn of your identity. A first name and a face is a lot to go on, especially for those who do not enjoy your writing so much as me. Now, how may I help you, Shannon?”

Shannon:

Shannon was taken aback. How did Alistor know who she was? How long had she known? Would she make good on her threat to reveal her identity?

There were limited options. Leaving did not necessarily protect her; it just left her in a worse position than she began in. Lying would only dig her in a deeper hole. She decided that with most of her cards already on the table, she may as well lay out the rest of them.

“I know you’ve been involved in a disappearance.”

Now it was Alistor who looked taken aback, even insulted. “How dare you accuse me with no evidence! I hope you enjoy the company of the other businessmen you published stories on more than me because you will be hearing from them soon.” She made as if to go back inside her apartment.

“I know you’ve taken Libby!”

Alistor paused. “...What did you say?”

“Libby Carlson. You were the last person to see her, and now she’s missing. Do you expect me to think that’s a coincidence?”

Alistor turned around, her features softened. “Libby’s missing?”

She did not seem like she was lying. Perhaps she had been wrong about her. Cautiously, she said, “Yeah. I haven’t heard from her in five days.Something feels wrong.”

“I was concerned, but I did not want to think anything of it.” Alistor looked to the side and seemed to make up her mind. “I will, of course, join you in finding her. I have a wide net of contacts to whom I can reach out.”

“Wait, really? You are willing to work with me?”

“Yes. I refuse to prioritize my own pride over assisting a friend. Did you drive?” She was already striding down the hallway towards the elevator.

“Uh, yeah. I drove.” Shannon was finding it very difficult to read this woman. She did seem to want to help Libby out of genuine concern, but she also seemed to be working an angle, like she knew more than she let on at any given moment.

In the elevator, Alistor asked, “How did you know my address and that I was the last person to see Libby?”

“On the last night I saw her, her motorcycle had a messed up tire, so she asked me to give her a ride to her next customer rather than take a taxi. You were her next customer.” This was met with a brief nod. “I didn’t know it was your apartment at first, but I saw one of your drivers pulling into the lot, and recognized him.”

“Well, I suppose it is good to know what further security measures need to be taken in the future.”

They exited the apartment building and got in Shannon’s car.

Before going anywhere, Shannon said, “OK. Let’s pool our information. The last time I saw Libby, her motorcycle tire was messed up, so I gave her a ride to your place. Although, thinking about it, I didn’t see her motorcycle in its parking space the next. She must have had it towed.”

“She did. When she came over with my double chocolate delights, she called a tow truck to pick it up. She did not seem concerned about anything. Did she say anything to you?”

“Yeah, she didn’t seem worried or anything. Although…”

“Although?”

“We were talking about plans and stuff, and she was being pretty vague. She mentioned a name. De Luca.”

Alistor looked up quickly. “De Luca?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“This is not good. Here, give me your GPS, so I can put in an address.”

“Where are we going?”

“A bar.”

Libby:

_It was so hot. Steam filled the air like fog fills the moors of gothic literature. It was so thick, she could barely see. Libby closed her eyes.”_

Alistor:

So De Luca was involved in this. He had played at her game a few weeks before and lost a great sum. He had paid, but had not seemed at all pleased of it. She texted Tania to tell her she had gone out and not to worry.

As they drove, the traffic was thick as ever even at 5 am.

Shannon asked, “So you’re friends with Libby?”

Alistor smiled. “Yeah, she is a killer at the tables. I have never won a game with her.”

“Libby is a poker player?!”

“Ha, you sound surprised. That girl is a whirlwind. I could find out she is an olympic archer and would not be surprised.”

“You’re very right.”

The GPS beeped to let them know they had arrived. They parked outside of a darkly lit bar with “De Luca’s” written in gold script on the sign.

They went inside and up to the bar, where De Luca, a middle aged man with a gruff face, stood.

“Miss. Vallencourt! I did not expect to see you this evening. Has one of my boys been playing the tables?” De Luca glanced at Shannon, “And who is your friend?”

Alistor offered a smooth, practiced smile, “No, Mr. De Luca, no one here owes me money. And this is Shannon. She is an associate who is currently training under me.”

Shannon shot her a look, but knew better than to interject anything to the contrary.

As they spoke, violence, like smooth jazz, played in the background.

De Luca extended a hand to Shannon, which she shook, and Alistor continued, “We are here on a matter of business, I am afraid. A different associate is currently missing, and I thought you would perhaps have an idea of her location.”

De Luca narrowed his eyes, and his grip on Shannon’s hand tightened. “Now, why would you think I would know anything about that?”

Alistor met his gaze, unflinching. “No reason other than your vast network of connections. Her name is Libby Carlson. Have you heard of her?”

De Luca dropped Shannon’s hand. “Libby’s missing? Why wouldn't you lead with that?”

Shannon gaped at him. “ _You_ know Libby?”

“Of course. She delivers cookies in the middle of the night. Her snickerdoodles are unmatched.”

Alistor smiled. “Olympic archery, Shannon.”

“You’re right, you’re right. But… wow.”

“Tell me what you know exactly,” De Luca said. Upon hearing their explanation, he said, “So my name has some connection to this. Let me make a few calls, and I let you know the verdict.”

Shannon piped up, “Isn’t it like 5 am? What if they don’t answer?”

“When I call, people answer.”

Shannon:

While De Luca made his calls, Shannon and Alistor waited outside. After twenty minutes, he came bursting out of the bar. He was wearing a long wool overcoat.

“Where’s your car?”

Shannon led them over to her car, and they got in. “What did you find out?”

“She is not at any of my places or with my people, but we did come across the name of a former property of mine, which is now owned by one of my former associates. This associate is… not the best person if you understand my meaning.”

Alistor nodded. “Where is this property?”

“It is in the middle of the woods upstate. Very secluded.”

Shannon passed him the GPS. “Looks like we’re going on a road trip.”

The GPS claimed it would take them two hours to get there. The GPS did ot seem to understand New York traffic.

It was also interesting to be trapped in a car with an illegal poker player and some kind of mob boss. She decided against arguing over music choices.

When the GPS beeped to let them know they had arrived, they were in the middle of dense woods and had just finished going down the windiest, most horror-movie-esque dirt road. The road, which could barely fit the one car, was two-way. This would have been a problem if they had encountered anything other than their own shadow the whole way up there.

Before them was a large iron gate blocking another dirt road. It had a sign that said “De Luca’s” in the same scripts as the bar. But here, it was rusted over. Shannon and Alistor got out of the car to see if the gate was locked.

“Well, this has been one hell of a car ride,” Alistor said when they were out of earshot of De Luca.

“Ha, yeah.I mean the music alone.”

Alistor placed a hand on her heart in mock shock. “You mean my music was not perfect?”

“Well, alternating between your jazz songs and his Dolly Parton songs wasn’t exactly my style.”

The gate did not appear to be locked, so they opened it and went back into the car.

Libby:

_It was peaceful there. She went outside to feel the early morning wind._

Alistor:

As they drove down the narrow dirt road, Alistor went to text Tania an update, but found there was no cell reception. She frowned. Hopefully, no one too important would call and receive no response.

They continued driving until they spotted a building up ahead. When she saw what the sign read, she was surprised.

Shannon:

Shannon gaped at the sign. “De Luca’s Spa and Retreat?” she read.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” De Luca said from the backseat.

A figure became visible in the distance, and Shannon ran out of the car to her.

“Shanonymous! What are you doing here?” Libby ran over and gave Shannon a hug. She was wearing a fluffy bathrobe and her glasses were slightly fogged up.

Alistor and De Luca came over too.

“Libby, I am glad to see you are alright,” Alistor said with a smile.

Libby threw her arms around her. “Allie! It is so nice to see you!” She turned around. “And Vinny too!” she said, hugging him as well. “What are you all doing here?”

“We thought you were kidnapped. You’ve been MIA for five days,” Shannon said.

Alistor added, “You did not text as you usually would if you were going to be unavailable.”

“What are you talking about? I did text you guys.” She pulled a phone out of the bathrobe pocket and checked. “Ooohh. Yeah, I guess we don’t really have cell service out here.”

“We’re just glad you’re safe.” Shannon smiled.

Libby laughed. “Since you guys are already here, you’ll have to stay and enjoy the spa for a little bit. They have an amazing sauna.”

And so they all went to the spa together: an investigative reporter, an illegal poker game runner, a mob boss, and an insomnia cookies delivery person.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a really fun story to write! I am in love with these characters! I just wanna see, like, fanart and memes of them. They make me very happy.


End file.
